STB solicits comment on grain rates

The Surface Transportation Board announced Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013 it "invites public comment on how to ensure the Board's rate complaint procedures are accessible to grain shippers and provide effective protection against unreasonable freight rail transportation rates."

Comments are due by March 12, 2014, STB said. Replies are due by May 12, 2014. Copies of written comments will be available for viewing and self-copying at the Board's Public Docket Room, Room 131, and will be posted to the Board's website.

STB said the request followed a hearing in 2006 "related to the movement of grain raised by Members of Congress, grain producers, and other stakeholders. When it closed that proceeding in January 2008, the Board reasoned that guidelines for simplified rate procedures had recently been adopted, providing a new avenue for rate relief for grain shippers." But STB "also noted that it would continue to monitor the relationship between carriers and grain interests, and that if future regulatory action were warranted, it would open a new proceeding."